By The Balls!

In 1998, Jim Pascoe and Tom Fassbender, writing under the pseudonym Dashiell Loveless, published a crime novel called By The Balls. The book was a loving tribute to the old Dell "mapback" paperbacks and was an underground success with those in the know. They followed this up with another Loveless title, Five Shots and a Funeral. The success of these two books allowed them to form UglyTown, an independent publishing house specializing in crime/noir. Recently, Akashic Books has re-released both books in an omnibus edition. This is a heads up for those wishing to up their cool factor by ten. Buy this book. What Tarantino did for crime cinema, these guys did for crime books. They kicked the door open and allowed for the success of bigger companies like Hard Case Crime. UglyTown was the Joy Division to Hard Case's New Order, you dig? Check out these wonderful UglyTown books: